Abandoned & Endangered: Lamar Building (Oakland) and St. Peter & Paul School (E. Liberty) (Pittsburgh: section 8, 2014)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by selltheburgh

I also want to add that Lamar is a billboard company and they do not care about aesthetics. I absolutely hate billboards.

I hate the fact that they seem to be using half of them here in the East End to trash city councilwoman Natalia Rudiak and council president Darlene Harris for pushing for a tax on billboards. They used pictures of Darlene Harris that make her look like a man, and they appear very juvenile and childish.

Back to the Lamar Building, though, I agree it's a shame it wasn't salvaged. I also don't like the aesthetics of the new building across the street.

[Evergrey]

I really like the picture Lamar used of Rudiak, however... she looks like a pixie.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

I really like the picture Lamar used of Rudiak, however... she looks like a pixie.

Tinkerbell!

[Impala26]

As saddened as I was by this, the building was only notable because of the facade that faces Fifth Avenue at the bend. Otherwise, the building was a rather nondescript brick block. The building also doesn't take advantage of its location overlooking the Mon Valley towards the South Side (granted when it was built this "gorgeous view" was probably nothing but the steel mills along the river and choking smoke, so that's understandable). The thing that probably ultimately damned the place was the condition inside, and that has been immediately apparent to me seeing it now over the course of this demolition. I cannot see how that building could have been rehabilitated in an efficient manner whatsoever.

Unfortunately, we can't save 'em all...

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by Impala26

As saddened as I was by this, the building was only notable because of the facade that faces Fifth Avenue at the bend. Otherwise, the building was a rather nondescript brick block. The building also doesn't take advantage of its location overlooking the Mon Valley towards the South Side (granted when it was built this "gorgeous view" was probably nothing but the steel mills along the river and choking smoke, so that's understandable). The thing that probably ultimately damned the place was the condition inside, and that has been immediately apparent to me seeing it now over the course of this demolition. I cannot see how that building could have been rehabilitated in an efficient manner whatsoever.

Unfortunately, we can't save 'em all...

It's a moot point now, but I wonder how much more time/money it would actually have added to have saved just the facade?

[Clint.]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

I really like the picture Lamar used of Rudiak, however... she looks like a pixie.

Yeah, how'd she make out so well? Poor Darlene Harris - she is shaded in red. I was wondering when a comment about Rudiak's pictures would show up on here, ha ha. With the cute picture of her they are using it will inspire people (me anyway) to approve of any tax she wants to levy.

I agree about those houses - u g l y. And only 13.5 feet wide. Rotting wood. What is under the green siding I wonder? They are old (relatively, anyway), but sometimes being just old isn't enough - often structures were cobbled together in a utilitarian way and just managed to hang around through the years for no real compelling reasons. Now, there is historic significance, but there also needs to be someone willing to step forward with some money to do a restoration; with property like that it seems like a full scale historical restoration would need to be done to make the properties interesting enough.

Too bad there wasn't more progressive thinking and development dollars decades ago when the real gems were leveled or gutted.

[Clint.]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

It's a moot point now, but I wonder how much more time/money it would actually have added to have saved just the facade?

I don't know, but I drove down N Homewood Ave. by Susquehanna the other day and it looks like a facade is being saved there. Don't know what it originally was, but think it said Abundant Life church or something.

[PreservationPioneer]

What do you have against row-houses that are 13.5 feet wide?

The narrow row-homes in the War Streets, South Side, Lawrenceville, and elsewhere in Deutschtown have no problem selling to people who want compact homes in urban settings.

I think the row I am living in now is 11 feet wide. I love it. It reminds me of a shotgun house inside.

Those row houses in Deutschtown could be fixed up and sold or rented, just like many other historic homes have been in that neighborhood. It's a protected historic district - demolition should not be an option for the oldest homes in a protected historic district. Just because they are not grand homes does not make them less historic. Working class history is just as important - only some would prefer to erase any signs that Pittsburgh had working class homes.

These homes being so small are not terribly expensive to remodel, assuming you have sensible tastes. What I see is a developer who probably expects to cash in on new high-end construction in an up and coming neighborhood, rather than making a modest profit by renovating and selling modest homes...

[Clint.]

I don't have anything against them, apparently it's just other people who do. I don't have the money to buy houses and renovate them, but apparently people who do don't want to, or at least they haven't yet. I didn't mean to disparage anyone's choice of housing; I certainly don't rah-rah a minimum square footage or anythign like that.

The question I guess is how long to wait for someone to improve them, and is there a point of no return, i.e., the longer they sit the less salvageable they become? If there is not much left that is able to be rehabbed, then maybe someone could save a few original elements that are still sound, do a tear down, and then build a replica, but it would take a special person. Designating areas historic districts is the best way to ensure that happens, although people circumvent that sort of thing.

[SteelCityRising]

You just never know when the right buyer will come along. The rowhome on Blossom Way in East Deutschtown that I'm considering buying has now just been joined on the market by the rowhome next-door. Both rowhomes are very narrow, but my partner and I don't need very much space and would value proximity to urbanity over larger square footage. These rowhomes are the size of a shoebox, but they can be handsomely polished relatively inexpensively.